TENNIS in DEPTH.

A moment of beauty before the violence of the US Open begins, caught on video by the New York Times team of Dewey Hicks, Todd Heater, and Pamela Chen.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/08/29/magazine/womens-tennis.html

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Elena Dementieva of Russia moved into the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pen tennis tournament with 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-4 win over Kateryna Bondarenko.

Dementieva says she rested for four weeks after tearing a left calf muscle during the French Open and is excited about getting in more matches before next week’s U.S. Open.

She will face Marion Bartoli, who defeated Anastasia Rodionova 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday. Flavia Pennetta also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Olga Govortsova of Belarus.

Alexandr Dolgopolov of Russia beat James Blake 6-4, 6-2.

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The final grand slam of the year gets under way in New York on August 30.

Who will win among the Women may be even more unpredictable than the men. With the withdrawl of Serena, and the likelehood than Venus, who hasn’t played for so long that I’m forgetting what she looks like, will not be fully recovered, it makes the field wide open.

Just yesterday Kim Clijsters injured her thigh against Zvonareva, and even though she says it’s not too serious, there must be a cause of some concern to her coach. And of course Justine Henin is certainly out.

Jelena Jankovic is nursing a sore leg that has hampered her for two tournaments, and Caroline Wozniacki is not back to her earlier form. Victoria Azarenka’s game goes up and down like a toilet seat, one week she wins and looks so good and then follows it up with a poor showing. Sam Stosur, the ultimate choker, has the game to win, but she is also just coming back from injury.

So who remains? Maria Sharapova will win if she can control her serve for two weeks…..highly unlikely. Svetlana Kuznetsova is coming around to her old form and has the experience….a strong possiblity. Dinara Safina….no way. Elena Dementieva may want it more than anyone else as this could be her last chance…..don’t overlook her.

And then there are whole bunch of players who could pull off a major upset just as Schiavonne did in Paris.

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Kim Clijsters was an easy third-round victor, while defending Rogers Cup champ Elena Dementieva was an upset victim Thursday at this $2 million Canadian event, a U.S. Open tune- up.

The fifth-seeded former world No. 1 Clijsters pummeled Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-1 on the hardcourts at Uniprix Stadium. The big-serving Kanepi was a surprise Wimbledon quarterfinalist last month.

Clijsters is the reigning U.S. Open champ and fresh off her title in Cincinnati last week. She captured this Rogers Cup tournament, in Toronto, in 2005.

Up next for Clijsters in Friday’s quarterfinals will be quality Russian Vera Zvonareva.

Chinese Zheng Jie stunned a fourth-seeded Dementieva in 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 fashion. Zheng was a surprise Aussie Open semifinalist back in January.

The two-time major runner-up and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Dementieva beat former No. 1 Maria Sharapova in last year’s all-Russian Rogers Cup finale in Toronto, as this event shifts between Toronto and Montreal each year.

Former top-10 star Svetlana Kuznetsova continued her recent winning ways by ousting seventh-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 on Day 4. The 11th-seeded two-time major champion Kuznetsova corralled her eighth win in nine tries on Thursday and was a titlist in San Diego two weeks ago.

Kuznetsova’s quarterfinal opponent will be Zheng.

 Zvonareva added another win to her great summer, as she cooled off red-hot Hungarian Agnes Szavay in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Szavay had won her last 12 matches heading into Thursday and was seeking a third title in three events, with recent titles coming in Budapest and Prague.

Meanwhile, surging 10th-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka drilled ninth- seeded Chinese Li Na 6-3, 6-3 and 17th-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France leveled Czech qualifier Iveta Benesova 6-0, 6-1. The lefthanded Benesova stunned top-seeded former world No. 1 Serb Jelena Jankovic here in the second round.

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Elena Dementieva was a surprise loser in the second round of the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday, going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Pavlyuchenkova hardly gave her opponent a look-in en route to a 6-1 6-3 victory, which set up a third-round meeting with Shahar Peer.

Peer, the 13th seed from Israel, breezed past Spain’s Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-3 6-2 in round two.

French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, the fifth seed, joined Dementieva in making an early exit when she was beaten 6-4 6-4 by Russia’s Elena Vesnina.

Second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark cruised into the last 16 with a 6-0 6-2 triumph over Austria’s Sybille Bammer, while 10th-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova progressed with a comfortable 6-3 6-1 win against German Andrea Petkovic.

Fourth seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium beat Russia’s Dinara Safina 7-5 6-2 to set up a third-round meeting with American Christina McHale, who cruised past Japan’s Ayumi Morita 6-2 6-4.

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Elena Dementieva has been granted a wildcard into Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale, an Olympus US Open Series event on the ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, to be held August 20-28 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale, it was announced today by Anne Worcester, tournament director.

Late news update!….Ana has accepted a wild card into the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale tournament, which takes place in New Haven during 22-28 August.

“I am excited to make my first visit to the Pilot Pen,” said Ana.

“I have been working hard on my game, and hope that I can play well and capture the title.(she must be kiddin’) I’ve heard great things about this event, and hope that this could be the first of many more trips to New Haven.”

 Dementieva, who will be making her ninth trip to New Haven, reached the semifinals of the French Open this year, but was forced to retire, due to a calf injury, in her semifinal match with eventual champion Francesca Schiavone, who will also be in the field at the Pilot Pen. The Russian has had a strong year winning tournaments at Sydney, where she defeated World No. 1 Serena Williams in the final, and Paris, and also reaching the finals at Kuala Lumpur. She has been a fixture in the top ten for the past eight seasons, winning 16 titles on Tour, including the Olympics in 2008 at Beijing, and reaching the finals of multiple grand slams including the French and US Opens.

 “I am excited to be healthy again, and look forward to getting back to the Pilot Pen,” said Dementieva. “I have always enjoyed playing in New Haven, and hope this is the year I can add a Pilot Pen title to my list of accomplishments. The fan support is always fantastic, and it provides a great opportunity to build confidence heading into the US Open.”

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Elena Dementieva came from a set down to see off Kimiko Date Krumm in the second round of the Bank Of The West Classic on a day in which the top three seeds were all given moments of discomfort.

Date Krumm came into the match on the back of an impressive win over former world number one Dinara Safina and she continued that form as she claimed the first set.

But second seed Dementieva remained calm and did just enough to claim a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win.

Top seed Samantha Stosur received a tough workout as she began her campaign with a 6-1 7-5 victory over Christina McHale.

The Australian received a bye in the first round and her second-round assignment was not looking too much tougher as she raced through the first set in 23 minutes.

But American teenager McHale rallied and stayed with her more experienced opponent to 5-5 in the second, but was broken for 6-5 and could not make the most of four opportunities to level.

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska was also made to work hard for a straight-sets win.

She was pushed to a tie-break in the first set by Ukrainian qualifier Olga Savchuk, but prevailed and made light work of the second for a 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 victory.

The day’s other match saw seventh seed Yanina Wickmayer beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-1 6-4.

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